Custom t-shirt quilts this year

 

I've been busy making t-shirt quilts, and these two were a little out of the ordinary. The one above doesn't actually use t-shirts, they're baseball jerseys. There were fewer shirts than I usually put in a t-shirt quilt but since the images on the jerseys were a little larger than most t-shirt images, it ended up working out. The image above shows the front of the quilt (left) and the back of the quilt. The front has the front of each shirt and the back has the back of each shirt, which I though was really cool. Because they are sports shirts, I like to use green for the sashing between. I considered using green for the outside borders but I had a brown fabric that was like the color of the dirt in the infield. I also added four white square “plates” around the outside. Frankly, I think I knocked this one out of the park.

Aside from being extra long (so long it was too big for where I usually take photos of the t-shirt quilts), the t-shirt quilt on the left is a little unusual because it wasn't for just one person, it included shirts from several immediate and extended family members. So several people can snuggle up under it together. I thought this was a good idea for someone who wants a t-shirt quilt but doesn't have enough shirts from one person, or for a parent who has a few special shirts from more than one child.

If you want a closer look at either t-shirt quilt, just click on it.

Custom Quilts made in 2018

It's my annual look back on the custom quilts I made during the year that I haven't shared yet (some were gifts).

Click on the photos to see larger views.

Bellbrook T-shirt quilt, 48" x 80"

Beavercreek T-shirt quilt, 46" x 76"

Christmas Quilt Fabric Mosaic, 11" x 14" framed

"Louie", 24" x 14"

Custom Quilts made in 2017

It's my annual look back on the custom quilts I made during the year that I haven't shared yet (some were gifts).

Click on the photos to see larger views.

Ariel's Double-Sided T-shirt quilt. 46" x 80"

Alice's Double-Sided T-shirt Quilt, 85" x 91"

Jo Jo's Double-Sided T-shirt quilt, 58" x 78"

YSKP T-shirt quilt, 46" x 80"

Salem T-shirt quilt, 46" x 88"

Gypsy Moon bed quilt and pillow cases, 88" x 93"

House Banners art quilts, 16" x 21", each

White Mum Corsage Fabric Mosaic, 11" x 14" framed

Skull & Flower art quilt ala Georgia O'Keeffee, 6" x 6" x 1"

20 T-Shirt Quilts!

I've been organizing my files and discovered I've made 20 t-shirt quilts! Here are the fronts and backs of them. (I'll start #21 next month). As always, you can click on any of the photos to see them larger.)

(For this one the backing was provided, it was an unfinished quilt top)

Double-sided t-shirt quilts:

While most of the others had some t-shirts on the back, these were designed to be two-sided, with the same-sized shirt matching up on the other side.

More about custom t-shirt quilts

Custom T-Shirt Keepsake Quilts

I've recently made several custom quilts using T-shirts. Most of them are throw-sized quilts, usually between 40"-48" x 70"-85" depending on the number of shirts. All of the shirts are backed with interfacing to keep them from stretching out of shape when they are sewn. I like to add a solid-color sashing fabric between the shirts so the shirts are separated from each other. The borders and vertical sashing are also a solid color (or a mostly solid).

With the exception of the first quilt, all of the quilts were purchased by mothers whose kids have moved out of the house but left several items behind with requests to "don't get rid of my T-shirts." And all but one of them were given as gifts for either graduation, Christmas, birthdays, or Hanukkah.

This quilt has 16 T-shirts with medium blue horizontal sashing and darker blue vertical sashing and borders. This quilt was made for a woman as a graduation gift from her friends. 

I asked her friend how they got the shirts from the woman without her noticing and her friend told me that these aren't actually her shirts, instead all of her friends donated one or two of their shirts. Good idea!

= = =

This quilt has 17 T-shirts on the front and one on the back (plus part of a pair of sweat pants). One of the shirt had people running that went all the way around the shirt so that is in the middle of the quilt going all the way across. 

The sashing above and below the runners is purple and the sashing and borders on the rest of the quilt are blue.

= = =

This quilt has 20 shirts. It has grayish-purple horizontal sashing and dark green vertical sashing and borders.

This "square" that is counted as one of the shirts on the quilt above is made of four smaller "patches" of logos that were on the sleeves or breast pocket.

= = =

This quilt has 19 shirts on the front and three on the back and includes T-shirts and also sports jerseys. I figure that if you can wash the shirt in a washing machine and dry it in a dryer then it can be used in a quilt, although sweatshirts don't work very well. Also, any shirts that have a lot of wear will be the weakest links when it comes to caring for your quilt.

This quilt has 22 shirts and includes T-shirts and also sports jerseys. Since this quilt had a lot of jerseys and sport shirts, I used green for the sashing and borders since many sports are played on green fields.

When I quilt a T-shirt quilt I like to quilt inside each shirt 1/4" from the edge and also approximately 1/4" around the image on the shirt, using thread that is the same color as the shirt. Then I quilt 1/4" inside all of the sashing and binding.

= = =

This quilt contains 60 T-shirts, 2 dress parts, 2 leotards, 1 pant leg, 1 sweater sleeve, part of a fleece blanket and 10 patches. Some of the patches are actual patches and others are smaller logos from other shirts that were appliqued on to some of the shirts. 

It was a gift for a young girl on her 13th birthday. Because the shirts were from when she was younger, they were pretty small so I was able to arrange them in a grid with the smaller shirts on the edges and getting larger as they moved to the center of the quilt.

Since there were so many shirts (and other articles of clothing) this became a double-sided quilt. I aligned the purple sashing and borders so when I quilted to two parts together the sashing would line up. When it was all finished it measured 54" x 86".

For information about purchasing a custom T-shirt memory keepsake quilt using your T-shirts, visit https://www.etsy.com/shop/PamGeiselArtQuilts?section_id=23768861

Keepsake Quilts Made With Kids Clothing

 

"Baby Boy Blue", 31" x 25" 

I've made several T-shirt quilts and was thinking about making some quilts using baby and kids clothing. Since I don't have kids I asked my sister if she had some clothes that her kids have outgrown. I don't think I told her what I was going to do with them. 

 

So I made some samples quilts. I made one using 6 pieces of clothing her son wore. Just like his Daddy he wore lots of polo shirts and seemed to favor a blue and yellow color combination. I quilted over the shirts but I made sure that all of the pockets were left accessible.

"Sweet Pea", 27" x 32"

The pink one had 6 pieces of clothes her daughter had worn. The four shirts, the light purple row under "Big Sister" was from a pant leg and the wide strip in the middle with the flowers and cherries was the bottom of a dress that my sister loved.

Most of the embroidered parts were already on the clothing. I did cut out a few fun pieces that were on the sleeves and made them into patches that were appliqued in other places. 

 

"I've Been Very, Very Good", 25" x 25"

And there were even a few pieces of clothing that both kids wore for Christmas, so I thought it would be fun to make a Christmas-themed quilt.

With some of the tops that had snaps I left them so the snaps could be opened and left a secret message inside.

So guess what I gave my sister and brother-in-law for Christmas this year? Three quilts made with the clothes their kids had worn.

Like the T-shirt quilts, all the clothing was stabilized before it was cut and pieced together. The borders and bindings were made with cotton fabrics and pieced by machine. The quilts were machine quilted and all have hanging sleeves.